The Best Man
by BlaineWarbler
Summary: Klaine's wedding. After a heartfelt speech by Burt, Cooper decides to give a little toast of his own...much to the horror of the newlyweds.


Glasses clinked and Burt stood, clearing his throat and straightening out his suit, already just at the brink of tears and trying to hold himself together.

"Blaine, Kurt…" he started, nodding to the two men at the sweetheart table in the front of the room. "I just wanna say…I'm so happy the two of you have found each other. You boys…you're men now. Kurt—you'll always be my little boy," Kurt smiled sweetly back at his father, "no matter how old you get or how many gray hairs you'll try to dye out of your head—" Laughter from the party-goers.

Kurt blanched, "I don't have gray hair, for the record! I'm just 26!" he called out to the crowd, to more soft chuckles.

"And Blaine…you…you've not just become like a son to me. You are my son. And I love you just the same as Kurt. And through the ups and downs, I will be there for you so long as you two continue…to love each other and support each other. Blaine, you were there for Kurt when he really needed a friend. I thank you so much for that. I love you both. Take care of each other. Marriage is hard, but you two stuck it out these past ten years, and that means something. I wish you both…all the…" his voice faltered. At the table in front, Kurt took Blaine's hand for support. it was hard for him to see his father get weepy-happy. "All the love in the world. I'm proud of you. I'm so proud of both of you," he said.

Burt pressed his lips into a thin line, trying not to cry as he sat down. Carole began to rub his back as applause rang out in the large room and Kurt whipped a tear from his eye and Blaine nodded, regaining his composure.

A round of frantic clinking could be heard from the same table along with a hushed group of whispering when the room quieted down to hear another toast, their attention turned to the table. "Cooper, I don't think—" "Not a good idea—" Voices were saying. "Dude, sit down please," Finn whispered.

But Cooper swayed softly as he stood, a dopey smile on his face as he attempted to balance on his feet. Blaine and Kurt knew the look immediately. "Oh no…" Blaine muttered. "Kurt, I am so sorry…"

"I thought you told him not to drink till after the toasts?!" Kurt whispered frantically.

"BLAINERS. Kurtsies…" Cooper began, raising his glass high.

"God, he looks like an alcoholic. I swear, he just does this at weddings," Blaine apologized again to his husband.

"Freaking adorable couple. AM I RIGHT?" Cooper yelled, waving his arms to get the crowd going. The guests, thinking it mostly an act, whooped and hollered and clapped appropriately in response. "YEAH!" Cooper exclaimed, and then extended his entire arm to point directly at Blaine.

"Baby brother. Squirt. You. Are awesome. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." He said seriously, his arm still hanging in the air. "Don't let anyone shame you for wetting the bed till you were eight. These things happen." Uncomfortable silence followed his pause.

Blaine looked panicked and upset and whispered to Kurt, "I had really bad nightmares as a kid!"

"Shh, honey, it's okay," Kurt reassured him.

"Sweet Kurtsie-wurtsie," Cooper said, his arm dropping to his side, a slight shrug to his shoulders. "It would never have worked between us, love. I'm sorry I kissed you last New Years." Blaine snapped around to look at Kurt, Kurt's eyes wide in horror. "I'm sorry to my date—wherever she is now—that I mistook you for. Thanks for not telling anyone. You are a very good kisser."

Finn was now tugging on Cooper's pants, urging him silently to sit down, whispering "dude, dude…" and looking around the room at all the confused expressions. Finn tried smiling at them in apology. Rachel's eyes were wide and her head was crooked to the side as if examining a unicorn that just popped out of a McDonalds restaurant. Burt just held his head in his hands, knowing by now there was very little he could do to stop what was happening without giving himself a heart attack.

Cooper laughed happily. "Everyone, let's celebrate these two guys. Seriously, a round of applause!" Awkward clapping ensued. "Hell yeah!" Cooper exclaimed, raising a hand in the air. "Kurt's gonna fuck my baby brother hard tonight!"

Finn wrestled Cooper down before he could say anything else and even Burt was reaching out to grab at the man to get him to shut up before he could do any more damage. At the sweetheart table, Kurt held his head in his hands at either side of his temples, as if he had a headache, and Blaine was sighing with a troubled expression on his face.

Later that evening after the toasts, when Cooper admitted he had done an excellent impression of a drunk man if could say so himself, and that he would definitely be getting that callback for the sexy, brooding alcoholic male lead he'd auditioned for, Blaine tackled Cooper to the ground.

"Don't make him bleed, the rugs are expensive!" Kurt cried out from behind him as Blaine tried to refrain from choking his brother outright.

Afterward the two had reconciled, eventually even singing the duet they had planned earlier, though Blaine looked bitterly over at Cooper's side of the stage when he sang the words, noticing how even now Cooper was trying to steal the spotlight.

"I'm sorry if I'm a little abrasive, bro," Cooper said toward the end of the night, pulling Blaine aside.

"Obnoxious, showboat, constantly irritating…abrasive, yes, good word, Coop," Blaine said, his brows lowered.

Cooper for once looked a little genuinely hurt. "I really am sorry. In the back of my mind, I kind of thought it would be funny."

"Maybe for a dinner party, almost. Not for my wedding, Coop."

Cooper looked a little ashamed, a grimace on his face. "Sorry."

Blaine sighed. "I can't believe you kissed Kurt and neither of you told me."

"An honest mistake, really. It was dark. I was legitimately drunk. Though it did last several minutes, if I remember correctly…"

"It's ok—wait, what?"

"Nope. Brain. Too hazy, actually. Hard to recall details."

Blaine sighed. Cooper rubbed his brother's back. "I forgive you, of course. For everything. Though you make my life so difficult and strange."

"Makes you enjoy the really good parts, though, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it does." Blaine smiled. "You always do know how to have fun, at least. I'll give you that."

Cooper clapped a hand on Blaine's shoulder. "C'mon, squirt, let's show them how the Anderbros get down on the dance floor."

Blaine laughed. "After you, of course."

"No," Cooper said, serious, a small smile on his face. "Why don't you lead the way this time?"


End file.
